Nioh is a foray into the genre that Dark Souls created, and like its medieval cousin, Nioh is just as hard. Expect to battle all manner of man and beast in this Feudal Japanese Action-RPG. Scared of dying or can’t quite beat a boss you’re stuck on? We’ve assembled a Nioh Guide, for the best tips and tricks on how to avoid dying so much in this brutally difficult game.
Keep Ki Pulsing
Ki is effectively your stamina in Nioh, and with the faster pace of this game, you’ll be using a lot to dash in and out of your enemies attacks. The system in place for helping you quickly recover is called ‘Ki-Pulsing’, where you time a press of R1 to instantly gain back your Ki. This helps with continuing a relentless assault or if you need stamina in a pinch. Additionally, Ki-Pulsing allows you to clear the Yokai Realm, which prevents you from recovering your Ki. Battling those huge beasts won’t seem quite as scary when you are able to keep your Ki up.
Slow Down
I know right, Nioh is really fast, enemies are fast, attacks are fast. But if you find yourself against a brick wall, it’s worth slowing down your style of play to help telegraph your enemies attacks together. Some bosses have huge windup animations, so what once seemed like an impossibly quick attack suddenly becomes slow. Additionally, it’s worth defending while observing your opponent to better telegraph what attack they’re about to use next. Nioh is all about pattern recognition, and once you know the perfect time to strike- It’ll surely lead to victory.
Spec Up
It might seem obvious to ‘Souls’ series veterans, but spreading out your upgrade points when you level up is a surefire way to end up with an underpowered character. In the opening moments of the game, it’s recommended that you find two weapons that you really gel with, and then see what stat they correlate to and keep upgrading that alongside your health and ki, which is always a safe bet. Some weapons and armour have stat requirements, so make sure you keep an eye on those if you want to wield them!
Get Buff
When going through the winding areas of Nioh, it might be tempting to simply run through the game, hacking and slashing without paying much attention to the rest of the game’s systems. However, one of the most powerful skills you can possibly have in Nioh is by learning and equipping Ninjutsu skills. You can learn all manner of elemental skills that can help you find a type advantage against a tough enemy and increase your overall DPS.
Utilise the Blacksmith
It might be tempting to run through Nioh simply just picking up weapons, but the blacksmith is able to fuse and forge new weapons. With rarer weapons, you’re also able to carry over their skills and abilities in order to forge the best weapon. After you clear a certain amount of missions or gain materials you’re able to forge more. We would also recommend dismantling any weapons you acquire to take those raw materials to forge into new, better weapons.
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